A new £250,000 fund's been launched to provide training and equipment aimed at helping disabled people to become more active.
'Parasport, powered by Toyota' – an online hub to empower disabled people to increase their activity levels – has today launched the fund. It'll see us invest £100,000 of National Lottery funding a year into it.
The Toyota Parasport Fund will be delivered by us, and the other respective home sports bodies, in association with the British Paralympic Association (BPA).
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Disabled people are twice as likely to be inactive
It means that activity providers can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 to improve the quality and quantity of equipment available to disabled people.
“Providing quality opportunities for disabled people to get active together and alongside their friends and family is key to boosting disabled people’s activity levels,” said Mike Diaper, our executive director of children, young people and tackling inactivity.
“We know that disabled people are twice as likely to be inactive and we are determined to close this gap and that’s why we are investing National Lottery funding into this new venture.
“We hope to see many more opportunities created to increase numbers of disabled people getting active.”
Launched in March of this year, Parasport already has more than 1,600 activity providers offering disabled people the opportunities to become more active through their website.
We hope to see many more opportunities created to increase numbers of disabled people getting active
our executive director of children and young people, and tackling inactivity
The hub is designed to create a community for people to share their experiences and become advocates – providing disabled people and their networks with the information and confidence they need to become active.
“Parasport is a crucial part of helping us to deliver our vision: through sport, inspire a better world for disabled people,” said BPA chief executive Mike Sharrock.
“It enables us to highlight the wide range of opportunities available for disabled people and these grants will help improve the experience of disabled people taking part in physical activity across the country and will be a welcome boost to the array of activity providers registered with Parasport.”
Andrew Cullis, Toyota GB marketing director, added: “We are extremely proud to launch the Toyota Parasport Fund as the next step in our support of inclusive sport and activity in the UK.
“Alongside our partners from Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland, Disability Sport Wales and Scottish Disability Sport, we have a fantastic opportunity to improve the options available to disabled people to get active and make a lasting impact on the grassroots landscape.”
Activity providers from across the England who've registered on Parasport are eligible to apply for support to improve the quality and quantity of sport and activities available to disabled people.
March 2020 update: This fund has now closed.